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Typo: A Monthly Newspaper and Literary Review, Volume 5

From "Typo," 25th Julei, 1891, a munthli magazeen publisht bei Coupland Harding, Wellington, New Zealand

From "Typo," 25th Julei, 1891, a munthli magazeen publisht bei Coupland Harding, Wellington, New Zealand.

Vast and revoliushoneri az ar the chanjez that the sentiuri haz seen, a no les remarkabel karakteristik ov the teim iz the doged konservatizm that haz blokt reformz ov most presing nesesiti. In neerli everi sfere the restles spirit ov inovashon haz had free koars. Venerabel ekleziastisizmz ar rapidli disintegrating; the fountenz ov the politikal deep ar braiking up; soshal relashonships ar in a state ov fluks; seientifik sistemz and art methodz hav been revoliushoneizd; and a haaf-ediukated jenerashon iz areizing in hoom tu a larj ekstent the fakulti ov reverens iz a meinus kwontiti. We feind wun thing onli that apeerz tu be held sakred—that iz garded with aulmost siuperstishus venerashon—and thát iz, whot Max Müller haz kauld the "nashonal misfortiun" ov Inglish speling—absoliutli the wurst sistem on the fase ov the erth. It outrajez both lojik and etimoloji. Ostensibli fonetik, it iz az kumbrus and arbitreri az the Cheineze sistem ov fifti or siksti thouzand ideogramz. Within the kumpas ov the Inglish dikshoneri iz groopt everi unkooth and obsolete deveis ov reprezenting soundz bei grafik simbolz that perverted injeniuiti haz ever deveizd.

Avoiding such an unneseserili miniut diskriminashon ov vouelz az wud onli tend tu konfiuzhon, ther ar in Inglish therti-siks soundz. Tu indikate theze, we hav twenti-siks leterz. Three ov theze, c, q, x ar redundant; and tú ov the vouel karakterz, i and u. reprezent difthongz, leeving a defishensi ov leterz, az kompared with the soundz, ov siks konsonants and seven vouelz. Eech leter iz emploid tu indikate from tú tu feiv soundz, and eech ov the therti-siks soundz iz reprezented in from tú tu therti wayz—aultugether amounting tu over tú. hundred sound-simbolz with absoliutli no rule for the yuse ov eni wun ov them. The best yeerz ov the stiudent's leif ar wasted in the efort tu master this kaotik skeme; and it iz priti safe tu say that ther iz no Inglishman, houever wel ediukated, hoo haz lernd either tu spel or tu pronouns hiz muther tung areit. Whot the feelingz ov a forener must be when he bekumz involvd in the labirinth ov Inglish "orthografi," it wud be hard tu say. Inglish iz the onli riten langwaje in which speling and pronunsiashon hav no asertainabel relashon tu eech uther, and everi leksikografer haz tu konstrúkt a fonetik kee tu enabel the stiudent, with the aksepted speling ov the wurd before hiz eiz, tu lern hou tu pronouns it.

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Reformz hav been atempted; but so far without suksés. It iz tru that the kurent speling iz subjekt tu the yuniversal law ov slow chanje. The feinal k, for ekzampel, haz been dropt from music, publics and aul the rest ov thát groop ov wurdz—save almanack, where old-fashond foak stil retain it. Agén, the siupérfliuus u iz nou rareli found in author, error, or control, tho meni kling tu it in honour and labour A komparison ov the latest edishonz ov the Authoreizd Vershon ov the Skriptiurz with the orijinal ov 1611 wil show that printerz hav made niumerus chanjez in the orthografik form ov the most sakred ov all teksts: stil, at the prezent rate ov chanje, our speling wud be onli veri imperfektli reformd in a thouzand yeerz. Our langwaje haz outgrown its alfabet. We hav aul maner ov deveisez for ekonomeizing teim and spase—we travel bei steem and konvérs bei elektrisiti; biznes leterz ar diktated tu the stenografer and riten bei masheeneri—but in aul our maniuskripts and printed buks we stil toil under the burden ov the most barbarus and irrasbonal sistem ov speling that haz ever ekzisted.

It haz been the bút ov yumorists from teim immemorial, but perhaps woz never more hapili satireizd than bei the lerned Dr Gregory in hiz selebrated "Leabtor" tu Mr Pitman in 1846, in which he ilustrated the "infignit vareyeety" sankshond bei Inglish orthografi. "Ey fompt," he rote, "aizz moast peaple dou, thacht ibt wowz ichmposible toeu maic ienney theng ovue thei caumun spealing, frogm thuay toatal wont owf rheulz; soa Hi meighed op meye migned tou discuard orthougrafuy, uand tho spel bey psownd, bute en ai malnor verry differeignt phrom yewrs; eand, Eigh flatour miselph, veiri seauperier thoeu uit." Everi wun ov the abérant formz in his long leter iz woranted bei analoji.

Onli tú objekshonz tu a reform hav ever been raizd. The ferst iz, that the variüs spelingz show the histori ov the wurdz,—that, in fakt, in mastering Inglish speling the stiudent insensibli akweirz an inseit intu etimoloji. This iz piur nonsens, and iz refiuted bei such foremost filolojists az Max Müller, Skeat, Sayce, and Murray, Az often az not, the fols speling tendz tu konseel the etimoloji. Witnes sovereign, rhyme, and the wuns-komon lanthorn—eech ov which iz an inovashon tu fit the speling tu a groas etimolojik blunder. Take the monstrositi euchre, the analog tu poker—modern slang from the Far West, groteskli trikt out in Greshian garb. Even if inkonsistent speling did throw leit on the histori ov wurdz, whair wud be the gain? Etimoloji iz a biutiful and fasinating studi; but iz ov interest and praktikal valiu tu komparativli fiu. It iz outrajus that everi cheild shud looz yeerz ov its most preshus teim in order that a dim tweileit shud be thrown on the histori ov langwaje. Wurdz ar toolz. Must eech hamer or aks, tu be efishent, bair sum mark tu indikate its evoliushon from the flint implement ov the savaje? and must the artizan, tu intelijentli yuze it, nó the hole histori ov its development? Ther iz a wurd which our forefatherz rote jail, akording tu analoji. It iz nou pedantikali riten gaol, standing absoliutli alone in its orthografi, and kontaining within the kumpas ov its foar leterz three anomaliz ov speling. Whei? Tu indikate, forsooth, that it kumz tu us from the korúpt Low Latin biola a kaje, thru the obsolete French form gaole. Eniwun hoo page 3takes the sleitest interest in this fakt kud feind it out kweit az redili if the wurd wer speld in a reezonabel fashon.

The uther objekshon haz more wait. Everi printer wud need the therteen niu leterz shown in the rashonal Inglish alfabet. Theze repeeted in italik, in kaps and lower-kase, and multipleid bei the number ov fonts in yuse, wud be priti ekspensiv. On the uther hand, the printer wud soon make it up in reprints, wheil the adopshon ov the karakterz wud meen a "boom" tu leter-founderz and punch-kuterz.

It iz in this direkshon that we beleev the reform wil ultimateli kum. We ar indeted tu the keindnes ov Mr Isaac Pitman, ov Bath, the inventer ov fonetik shorthand, for the fonetik alfabets, [displayd in the marjin ov the magazeen from which we take this artikel] which hav nou had a treial ov more than forti yeerz. No wun hoo luks without prejiudis at the skeme, with its seientifik aranjement ov soundz and simbolz, and hoo konsiderz that bei this notashon everi wurd in the langwaje may be akiurateli reprezented in print, kan fail tu aknolej its valiu. It diferz but sleitli from the alfabet yuzed bei the late Dr Ellis, in hiz selebrated Phonetic News We regret that, not having the teips, we kanot show a fiu leinz ov Inglish in this geiz. The praktikal valiu ov a notashon in which eech simbol haz a fikst valiu may be jujd from wun fakt—a truli startling wun tu aul hoo hav had tu teech the prezent sistem. Bei meenz ov this alfabet, a cheild haz been taut tu reed in twenti ourz! In serten Inglish skoolz the alfabet haz been introdiúst az a prelimineri tu the aksepted sistem, and the children inishiated intu the art ov reeding bei the fonetik alfabet wer found tu master the kurent speling with graiter eez than thoze hoo wer taut in the ordineri maner, and tu leev them far beheind.

Stil, the kost ov speshal teips iz a praktikal difikulti which everi printer wil apreshiate. It iz so grait an obstakel, that the reformerz hav for the teim beïng made fonotipi a sekonderi konsiderashon, and hav deveizd a "Ferst Staje," which eni printer may adopt. It iz sistematik, and sufishentli indikates the sound ov the riten wurd.

Ediukashonal kwestionz hav kum a gud deel tu the frunt in this koloni lateli. In plase ov the trivial points ov detail so hotli dis kúst, it wud be beter wurth wheil tu konsider the adveizabelnes ov dedukting three or foar yeerz ov painful and profitles drudjeri from everi cheild'z skool-leif, and devoting the teim thus saved tu ediukashon. New Zealand haz led the wurld in more than wun reform. Whei not in reformd speling?